Musical device for automatically producing tone patterns

ABSTRACT

Electronically produced pulses are conveyed in predetermined patterns to a tone signal generator for producing a plurality of tone signals which in turn produce a plurality of musical tones, each being different from but related to the others. A tone signal means with multiple frequency controlling means connected to one or more oscillators is provided to vary the tone patterns which are dependent on selection by an instrumentalist. The tone signal means feeds an audio circuit for producing the musical tones.

United States Patent Wangard Aug. 29, 1972 [54] MUSICAL DEVICE FOR3,283,057 11/1966 Campbell ..84/ 1.01 AUTOMATICALLY PRODUCING TONE3,546,355 12/1970 Maynard ..84/'1.03 PATTERNS 3,548,066 12/1970 Freeman..84/ 1.03 [72] Inventor: William wangard, MaywoodnL 3,562,395 2/1971Peterson ..84/1.01 [73] Assignee: The Seeburg Corporation of PrimaryExaminer-Lewis H. Myers Delaware, Chicago, Assistant Examiner-U. Weldon22 F1 (11 N 13 1970 Attorney-William Lohff, Ronald L. Enge], Daniel W. 1l e W Vittum, Jr. and Comer W. Walters [21] Appl. No.: 89,363

' ABSTRACT U-S. ..84/1-03, 8 Ele troni ally produced pulses are conveyedin I ..Glof to a tone generator for v [58] Fleld of Search "84/1316-producing a plurality of tone signals which in turn 84/124 331/60 111produce a plurality of musical tones, each being different from butrelated to the others. A tone signal [5 6] References C'ted means withmultiple frequency controlling means con- UNITED STATES PATENTS nectedto one or more oscillators is provided to vary the tone patterns whichare dependent on selection by 3,255,292 6/ 1966 Park ..84/ 1.03 aninstrumentalist The tone Signal means feeds an 3,358,068 12/1967Campbell ..84/ 1.03 X audio circuit for producing the musical tones3,567,838 3/1971 Tennes ..84/1.03 X 3,180,918 4/1965 Harmon ..84/1.01 15Claims, 9 Drawing Figures DRIVING MEANS REFERENCE TONE SIGNAL GENERATING3:25 7 MEANS MEANS 852 SELECTION MEANS PATENTEDwszs nan SHEET 5 BF 7 A2| 5 7 A 9 2 A A l l .4 '3 It. I

0 III I I I I ull wlllll I I I I I I i I: A A A A A A 7 W mm n n n A w AINVENTOR.

WILL/AM W/J/VGARD M PMENTED M1829 I972 sntr s r or 7 //V VENT 0/?WILLIAM WANG/1RD MUSICAL DEVICE FOR AUTOMATICALLY PRODUCING TONEPATTERNS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field'of the Invention- Thisinvention relates generally to the electronic production of musicaltones and, more specifically, to a device for producing one or moremusical patterns of bass tones having a tonic note selected by aninstrumentalist.

2. Description of the Prior Art In the area of automatically controlledmusical instruments it has been only relatively recently that deviceshave been provided which automatically yield musical patterns that maybe selected at will by an operator or instrumentalist.

One category of such instruments has been the rhythm accompanimentdevices adapted to produce various rhythms. Some rhythm accompanimentdevices are provided with an arrangement by which the beat of the devicewill be altered to conform to the beat of an instrumentalist playing onan associated primary instrument such as an electronic organ.

Rhythm accompaniment devices have been quite successful in the marketplace and have provided an added dimension to the playing of music. Byutilization of a rhythm accompaniment device in connection with the playof a basic instrument, an instrumentalist can play the melody and thedevice will provide a rhythm accompaniment so that the end effect willbe that of a full band.

While rhythm accompaniment devices play an important part in the modernmusical world, their use has been restricted to the production ofrhythms by actuation of circuits that simulate percussion instrumentsounds. Thus, the device plays on its own, essentially independent ofwhat the instrumentalist is doing. Normally, the instrumentalist willcondition his beat to coincide with that of the rhythm accompanimentdevice, but in some cases the beat of the rhythm accompaniment devicecan be modified to follow the beat of the instrumentalist. However, evenwhen the device is adapted to follow the beat of the instrumentalist,the only change in the musical output of the device is the beat or speedof the music since there is no change in the basic sound of the music.

In the area of providing accompaniment utilizing notes or tones, thereare other problems that prevent an easy solution. The primary problem,of course, is that when a musical note or tone is produced there is amuch greater interaction with the music being played by theinstrumentalist than when a rhythm accompaniment is being produced. Inthe latter case, it is necessary to match the beat of theinstrumentalist and the rhythm accompaniment, whereas in the former itis necessary that the notes or tones played produce the proper musicaleffect when combined with the notes being played by the instrumentalist.As a result, it is necessary that the instrumentalist have control overthe tonal nature of the accompaniment being produced.

Some prior art attempts have been made to provide tonal accompanimentpatterns. One such prior art arrangement utilizes an approach in whichan instrumentalist can produce basic accompaniment patterns bysuccessively actuating a pedal for each of the notes of the pattern.Such an arrangement is, of course, difiicult for the instrumentalist toplay and has a limitation on the number of notes that can be playedwithout the instrumentalist wearing himself out.

Other attempts have provided tonal accompaniment characteristics byutilizing arrangements such as a series of keys to be depressed in rapidsuccession by an instrumentalist to provide a run of notes based on anote being played by the instrumentalist. Again, though, sucharrangement is difficult for an instrumentalist and detracts from hisplay of the basic instrument.

In co-pending application Ser. No. 36,263 filed May 11, 1970 in thenames of William Wangard and David Fleeton, entitled DEVICE FORAUTOMATICALLY PRODUCING TONE PATTERNS BASED ON A TONIC NOTE and assignedto same assignee, a device is disclosed which provides tonalaccompaniment patterns automatically once the tonic note is selected bythe instrumentalist. The specific device includes a switching networkactuated by electronically produced pulse patterns and by pedal switchesactuated by the instrumentalist. The switching network involves aplurality of pedal gate circuits with each circuit having a plurality ofindividual pedal gates equal to the number of semitones in a musicaloctave. The switching network also includes a plurality of audio gatesactuated by pulses from the pedal gates to pass tone generator signalsto an output audio circuit.

While the device operates in a very satisfactory manner, the switchingnetwork is quite complicated and expensive. In some instances, eachpedal gage comprises 13 electronic switches and there are nine pedalgates involved. 117 electronic switches are required, necessitating theusage of well over 200 diodes. In addition, a plurality of audio gatesare connected in the switching network. Therefore, improvements in theswitching network are desirable to lower the complexity and cost of thedevice.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is'directed to theproduction of tonal accompaniment arrangements by providing a whollyautomatic pattern of notes by a device in which a pattern ofelectronically produced pulses serves to actuate a tone signal means.The tone signal means includes one or more frequency generators or othertone signal generating means and multiple voltage and circuit means as amultiple conditioning means to vary the frequencies to obtaintime-separated tone signal output of the frequency generators.

Each of a plurality of pedals or other switch means operated by aninstrumentalist is connected to the tone signal means to determine thetonic note and to provide time-separated tone signals capable ofcontrolling the production of a musical tone pattern. The tone signalmeans feeds an audio means through an interrelating means to produce thedesired tonal arrangement or pattern.

In a manner similar to co-pending Ser. No. 36,263, the driving portionof the system includes a pulse generating circuit and a patternswitching arrangement. Various types of pulse generating circuits couldbe utilized, of course, but in this case spatially separated drivingpulses are obtained by making use of signals obtained from the logiccircuitry of a rhythm accompaniment device utilized in association withthe present invention. The signals from the rhythm accompaniment deviceare passed through a logic circuit which provides positive going pulsesfor the pattern switch.

In the present embodiment, five separate patterns may be chosen by useof the pattern switch. Of course, the number of patterns supplied couldbe increased if desired. Actuation of a particular pattern switch con-'nects the terminals to which the driving pulses are applied tocorresponding control points. Each of the control points is associatedwith the tone signal means which comprises tone signal generator means,and multiple conditioning means cause the generator means to produce thepattern of tone signals as an output.

In some instances the pulses actuate a plurality of tone signalgenerator means such as oscillators which are set by associatedcircuitry and voltages to generate different frequencies to produce thedesired pattern of tone signals which operate the audio means forproduction of the tone pattern. In other instances, the pulses actuatemultiple voltage means for a single tone signal generator to provide apattern of different voltages in a pattern which determines the tonesignals fed to the audio means. In this manner, the tone signal means asdisclosed herein operates without a switching network having pedalgates, audio gates and complicated diode circuitry.

The voltages fed to the tone signal generator means are determined bythe particular pedal selected by the instrumentalist. Each pedal is alsoassociated with a tonic note to determine the initial note in thepredetermined pattern of tones. However, it should be noted that thetonic note may not be actually included in the musical pattern, althoughit does determine the notes that are played.

With multiple tone signal generators, the voltages fed to each generatorcan be the same or different with respect to a particular pedal. If thevoltages are the same, the circuitry in the conditioning meansassociated with the generator means will differ. If the voltages differ,the circuitry can be the same or different.

With the single tone generator means, the multiple conditioning means isa source of multiple voltages which are fed in a time-separated patternto the tone generator to produce the pattern of tone signals.

The tone signals are then passed through interrelating means to theaudio means. Normally, audio means include amplifying and tone producingmeans. While, audio means can include a plurality of separate amplifyingmeans with switching means to determine the particular amplifier, thepreferred embodiments of this invention often require only a singleamplifying means and tone producing means.

The tonal arrangement described herein could be utilized with any typeof tonal accompaniment, but in these embodiments it is primarily relatedto a string bass accompaniment.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of this invention to provide adevice that will automatically produce a desired pattern of musicaltones based on a tonic note selected by an instrumentalist.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device which producesthe desired pattern of musical tones without complicated diode switchingnetworks.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device which producesthe desired pattern of musical tones with a tone signal means directlyactuated by electronically produced pulses.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGS. 1-5 are schematic circuitdiagrams of one preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 6-8 are schematic circuit diagrams of a second preferredembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to FIGS. 1-5 itcan be seen that the preferred embodiment incorporates a driving meansincluding a generating means 11 (FIG. 1) and a pattern switching means13 (FIG. 2). Generating means 11 actually has two functions: a logicanalysis function and amplifying function.

The logic function is performed by diodes l5, l7, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27,29, 31, 33, 35, 37, 39, 41, 43, and 45 which serve as blocking diodesfor positive pulses. Transistors 47, 49, 51, 53, 55, 57, 59 and 61 arenormally saturated and are cut off by a negative pulse entering forexample on base 63 of transistor 47. This causes a positive signal to betransmitted through diode 65 and resistor 67 to emitter follower 69.Capacitor 71 and resistors 67 and 73 serve to increase the duration ofthe pulse. Diode 75 serves to isolate outputs of the various emitterfollowers when connected together.

As previously indicated, the signals applied to the logic could beobtained from any convenient source, however in this particularembodiment they are derived from a rhythm accompaniment device 12(illustrated as a box in FIG. 1) utilized in connection with the subjectinvention. The particular circuit in FIG. 1 utilizes negative logicsignals produced from the rhythm accompaniment device 12. These signalsare inverted by generating means 1 1 whose outputs are positive.

In a similar manner signals are produced in the circuits associated withemitter followers 77, 79, 81, 83, 85, 87 and 39.

The circuits associated with transistors 91 and 93 provide a means forcontrolling the sustain time of the tone signal produced by the tonegenerating means. The pulses produced by emitter followers 69, 77. 79.81, 83, 85, 87 and 89 are connected through switching means as explainedbelow to keying circuits which include sustain capacitors. Forillustration purposes, emitter follower 69 is connected to keying input109 in FIG. 3. The pulse produced by emitter follower 69 charges sustaincapacitor 160. This is followed by the firing of emitter follower 77.When transistor 77 tires, current is drawn through resistor 97 andcauses capacitor 99 to couple a negative pulse to transistor 91 which isnormally held in saturation by resistor 95. When transistor 91 turnsoff, transistor 93 saturates momentarily which provides a discharge pathfor sustain capacitor 160 through resistor 155 and diode 163. Thisaction prevents two tones from sounding simultaneously at fast temposwhich, because of the low frequencies involved, would produce a veryundesirable burbling effect. This circuit also allows the sustain lengthto be very long so that at slow tempos, a very sustained, natural soundis heard.

The outputs from the eight pulse generators are fed to terminals 101,102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107 and 108 in FIG. 2. Pulses appearing onterminals 101-108 are then passed to the pattern switching means 13.Pattern switching means 13 has five separate patterns, each of whichincludes eight normally open switches 100. Eight switches are utilizedin each of the pattern switching arrangements in this embodiment tocorrespond to the eight pulse outputs of the driving circuit, whichcorrespond to the eight quarter notes of two measures of 4/4 timeutilized in this preferred embodiment. The invention is not, of course,limited to the use of this particular meter nor to only two measures.The five patterns that may be selected have been designated U, V, W, Xand Y.

Selection of a particular pattern causes the associated switches 100 toconnect terminals 101-108 to a series of control points designated bynumerals 0-8. A control point designated by 0 is merely an open circ'uitconnection. Each of the control points 1-8 is connected to acorresponding one of the keying inputs 1-8 illustrated in FIG. 3.Various keying inputs 1-8 are identified by numerals 109-117.

FIG. 3 illustrates a tone signal means adapted to provide time-separatedtone signals capable of controlling the production of a musical tonepattern in which each tone is different from but related to each of theother tones in the pattern. The tone signal means comprises a tonesignal generator means as illustrated by unijunction transistors 119-127and means for conditioning the generator means as illustrated by voltagemeans 118 and circuitry associated with each of unijunctions 1 19-127.

For illustration purposes a circuit associated with unijunction 119 willbe described. The voltage from source 118 is applied through timingresistors 129 and 131 and timing capacitor 133 to the anode 132 ofunijunction 119. A reference voltage 134 from source 224 (FIG. 4) isapplied to the gate 137 of unijunction 119 through programming resistors136 and 136. As known, the relation between the voltage on anode 132 andgate 137 determines the firing point of unijunction l 19. The values oftiming resistors 129, 131 and timing capacitor 133 determine the timerequired for the voltage on the anode 132 to reach the firing point andthus determine the frequency of oscillation. Flip-flop 145 serves toisolate and stabilize the frequency of the signal generated byunijunction 119. Flip-flop 145 flips each time unijunction 119 fires,thus creating a square wave output having a frequency one-half thefrequency of firing of unijunction 1 19.

The signal from flip-flop 145 is gated on by diodes 147 and 149 onlywhen a positive pulse appears at terminal 109. Resistor 151 serves tolimit leakage of high frequency components of the signal and capacitor160 .serves to sustain the signal. Resistors 157 and 159 are keyingresistors. Resistor 168 is a loading resistor to prevent cross keying.As noted, resistor and diode 163 serve to provide a discharge path forcapacitor through transistor 93 when a second circuit is keyed. Thesignal is fed to a voicing network represented by capacitor 165, coil167 and resistor 169. The output of this circuit is fed to an audiomeans illustrated in FIG. 5 through line 510.

In FIG. 4 instrumentalist operated selection means 239 is illustratedwhich operates to condition the voltage means 1 18 illustrated in FIG.3. The instrumentalist operated selection means 239 is comprised ofresistors 184-197, switching circuits 227-237 and emitter followertransistor 223. For illustration when pedal switch 171 is closed, apositive voltage is applied to the base 221 of transistor 218. Thiscause transistor 218 to saturate and effectively grounds the junction ofresistors 185 and 186 establishing a potential on the base of transistor223 which in turn establishes a potential on the emitter of transistor223 which is effectively the voltage on the base of transistor 223 minusthe base to emitter voltage drop. Emitter of transistor 223 leads tovoltage means 118. Diode 222 serves to compensate for the base-emitterdrop in transistor 223. Capacitor 199 in the base circuitry oftransistor 218 serves to hold transistor 218 into saturation for a shorttime after the pedal key switch 171 is opened. It should also be notedthat as long as transistor 218 is saturated the similar switchingcircuitry associated with blocks 227-237 is inoperative.

Detection of the key on condition is accomplished by transistors 205,206 and 207 and associated circuitry. This operates as follows: whenpedal key switch 171 is closed, capacitor 199 charges from a sourceconnected to point 500 through resistors 700 and 701 thus saturatingtransistor 205. Placing transistor 205 in a conducting state causes apositive voltage to appear on the base 211 of transistor 206 causingtransistor 206 to conduct to supply a positive keying supply voltagefrom emitter 213 to the base of transistor 207 which causes transistor207 to conduct. Since transistor 207 offers a conduction path from thesupply voltage on point 500 through diode 201 and resistor 203 toground, sufficient current is continually drawn through resistors 7 00and 701 to maintain transistor 205 to maintain it in conduction aftercapacitor 199 reaches full charge. Therefore, transistor 207 is held ina conducting state as long as switch 171 (or any other applicable pedalswitch 172-183) is held closed. An alternative selection means useful inthis embodiment is a ladder" switch arrangement which would selectivelytap the voltage from a voltage dividing network.

The application of the voltage from voltage means 118 and the voltage134 from source 224 (a conven tional voltage regulator not described indetail, the supply voltage of approximately 20 volts is applied at point500 and the regulated output voltages are indicated by the numerals 134,334, 434, and 534) to the transistors 119-127 shown in FIG. 3 provide areference voltage to the various transistors 119-127 which may beadjusted with the associated circuits (as illustrated by resistors 129and 131 and capacitor 133) that causes each of the unijunctiontransistor circuits to oscillate at a predetermined frequency differentfrom that of each of the other circuits in order to provide a pluralityof frequencies corresponding to tone signals which are selectively keyedby the inputs from the pattern switching means 13 to providetime-separated tone signals through line 510 to the audio meansillustrated in FIG. 5. FIG. represents a standard preamplifier whichamplifies and feeds the signal through line 512 to additional amplifyingmeans and speaker means (not shown).

The pre-amplifier illustrated in FIG. 5 is essentially a conventionalpre-amplifier. Bias for the pre-amplifier is obtained from terminal 241and conveyed to the collectors of transistors 242 and 243. The collector249 of transistor 242 is biased through resistor 244, while the base 245is biased through resistors 246 and 247.

The input signal is connected to the base of transistor 242 through acapacitor 248, and the output on the collector 249 of transistor 245 isfed to terminal 241 through capacitor 250 for high frequency roll offand through capacitor 250 to base 251 of transistor 243 which isconnected to ground through a resistor 252.

The emitter of transistor 242 and the emitter of transistor 243, whichis connected in an emitter follower configuration, are connected toground through resistors 253 and 254 respectively. The output obtainedfrom the emitter of transistor 243 is conveyed to the audio circuitry800 through a capacitor 255 Resistors 252 and resistor 256 serves tobias base 251 of transistor 243.

FIGS. 6-8 represent a second preferred embodiment which incorporates adriving means similar to that described in FIG. 1, a multipleconditioning means, a single tone generating means, instrumentalistselection means, audio means and an interrelating means to produce thedesired time-separated tones. The instrumentalist operated selectionmeans 327 illustrated in FIG. 6 is essentially identical to theselection means 239 described in FIG. 4. The output 347 of the pedal keyswitch 327 is fed to a voltage multiplex switch means 329, which iscomprised of voltage dividing resistors 356-364 and field effecttransistor switches 365, 371, 372, 373, 374, 375, 376, 377 and 378. Thevoltage multiplex means 329 serves to increase the total number ofdifferent available voltages. The inputs to voltage multiplex switchmeans 329 are positive pulses whose sequence is determined by patternswitch 401 as described below.

For illustration purposes, the circuitry for transistor 365 will bedescribed. Normally, a negative bias voltage of about 5 volts is appliedthrough resistor 380 and diode 368 to the gate terminal 366 oftransistor 365. This bias prevents transistor 365 from conducting. Whena positive voltage pulse is applied to terminal 367 from switch 401, thenet voltage at the junction of resistors 379 and 380 is positive. Thiscauses diode 368 to be reverse biased and cease conduction. Thepotential pedal output bus 347 is then applied through resistor 381 togate 366 of transistor 365 which turns the transistor on and applies thepotential appearing at terminal 347 to terminal 370. It can be seen thatwhen transistor 371 turns on the voltage output on terminal 370 isreduced from that applied through transistor 365 because of resistor356.

The voltage on terminal 370 is connected to the voltage controlledoscillator 382 through a high impedance isolating circuit illustrated bytransistor 479, resistor 481 and capacitor 480. The output of the highimpedance isolating circuit is passed to the voltage controlledoscillator 382 illustrated by resistors 383 and 384, capacitor 385,unijunction transistor 386, programming resistor 387 and 388 andresistor 389. The operation of the voltage controlled oscillator 382 issimilar to that illustrated in FIG. 3 and described in connection withunijunction 119. Since the voltage ap pean'ng on resistor 383 controlsthe frequency of the oscillator 382, the particular voltages fed byvoltage multiplexing switch 329 will determine the operating frequencyof the oscillator. Flip-flop 390 serves to isolate and stabilizeoscillator 382. Diodes 391 and 392 are keying diodes which serve toblock the positive going excursions of flip-flop 390. Resistor 393serves to shunt high frequency leakage caused by the shunt capacitanceof diodes 290 and 391.

Keying voltage is inserted on terminal 399 to charge capacitor 412 andturn on diodes 391 and 392 through resistor 411. The keying voltage ismodulated by the output of flip-flop 390. The tone signal is passedthrough resistor 394, capacitor 395 and inductor 396 to preamp means397. Capacitor 398 serves as a filter capacitor. The output from preamp397 is passed to an amplifying and sound producing means.

FIG. 7 illustrates a pulse generator 400 and keying circuit 402 whileFIG. 8 schematically illustrates a pattern selecting switch 401. Pulsegenerator 400 is comprised of eight three-input AND gates. The inputs420 to these gates are fed from the counter of rhythm accompanimentdevice 12. AND circuit 403 serves to illustrate the operation. Theoutput from AND circuit 403 is positive only when all three of itsinputs are positive. When this occurs the positive output is fed toswitch 401 through contacts 501-508. Switch 401 is identical with theswitching means illustrated in FIG. 2 except that the connections givenby 0 are connected to a common keying inhibit bus 404 (FIG. 7). Thepositive output from AND circuit 403 is connected to the appropriateinput of the voltage multiplexing switch 329 through selector switch401. This allows the voltage multiplexing switch to apply theappropriate voltage to the voltage controlled oscillator 382corresponding to a particular frequency of oscillation called for by theinteraction of the instrumentalist operated selection means 327, patternswitch 401 and the particular state of the rhythm accompaniment counterinputs 420.

The keying circuit 402 is illustrated by resistor 416, capacitor 417,transistors 405, 406, 407 and 408 and diode 410. When any of the ANDgates change state current is drawn through resistor 416 and a negativepulse is coupled to transistor 405. The chain of transistors 405408 actto produce a positive pulse on emitter terminal 413 which is applied todiode 410 and is connected to keying input 399 in FIG. 6. The purpose ofthis circuit is to gate the output of flip-flop 390 to the preamplifiercircuitry 397 each time an AND gate switches state. The operation oftransistor 414 is to inhibit the keying operation of transistor 408 whenthe pattern from switch 401 does not produce an output (the patternselected by switch 401 has a musical rest).

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of the present invention. Driving means 850includes generating means 11 and pattern switching means 13 previouslydescribed. Selection means 852 includes the circuitry associated withswitches 171-183 previously described. Reference signal means 854includes the circuitry associated with transistor 223 which provides areference voltage at 118. The tone generating means 856 includes thecircuitryassociated withunijunction transistors 119-127 previouslydescribed. Audio means 860 includes the circuitry associated withtransistors 242 and 243 and audio circuitry 800 previously described.

Alternatively, tone generating means 856 includes multiplex switch means329 and voltage controlled oscillator 382 as previously described.

From the above description it is seen that I have provided a device forproducing musical tone patterns based on an instrumentalist selectedtonic note. The device operates with a tone signal means adapted toprovide time-separated tone signals capable of controlling theproduction of the musical tone pattern in which each tone is differentfrom but related to each of the other tones in the pattern. The tonesignal means utilizes tone signal generator means and multipleconditioning means electrically connected to the generator means toprovide for the production of the timeseparated tone signals.

The device also operates with instrumentalist operated selection meansadapted upon operation to actuate the multiple conditioning means, audiomeans to produce the musical tones in the desired pattern, interrelatingmeans adapted to cause the tone signals to control production of themusical-tone pattern by the audio means, and driving means for actuatingthe tone signal means at predetermined times to provide the desiredpattern of tone signals.

It should be understood that the embodiments described are merelyexemplary of the preferred prac tice of the present invention and thatvarious changes, modifications, and variations may be made in thedetails of construction, arrangement, and operation of the elementsdisclosed herein, without departing from the spirit and scope of thepresent invention.

Iclaim:

l. A device for producing musical tone patterns based on aninstrumentalist selected tonic note comprising:

reference signal means for providing a plurality of reference signalshaving a distinctive voltage magnitude, each of said distinctive voltagemagnitudes representing a corresponding tonic note and a related groupof notes having a predetermined interval relationship;

instrumentalist operated selection means connected to the referencesignal means adapted upon operation to activate said reference signalmeans to provide a selected reference signal;

driving means for producing selectable patterns of driving signals, eachof said driving signals representing a note in the group of musicalnotes related to the selected tonic note;

tone signal generating means connected to the reference signal meansadapted to produce a plurality of tone signals at the timespredetermined by said driving means in response to receipt of saiddriving signals and the selected reference signal,

each of said tone signals having a frequency cor-' responding to thefrequency of one musical note of the group of musical notes related tothe selected tonic note, the pattern of production of said tone signalsand hence the corresponding musical notes being dependent upon saiddriving signal; audio means adapted to receive said tone signals andconvert said tone signals into audible musical notes, each of saidmusical notes being determined by the frequency of the correspondingtone signal. 2. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said referencesignal means comprises a voltage divider providing a plurality ofselectable output referencevoltages, each of said reference voltagescorresponding to a group of musical notes based on the related tonicnote.

3. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said selection means comprisesa plurality of switches, each of which represents a different tonic noteactuable by an instrumentalist to select a reference voltage on saidvoltage divider.

4. A device as claimed in claim 3 wherein said plurality of switchescomprises a plurality of foot operated pedal switches.

5. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said driving means comprises apattern switching arrangement adapted upon instrumentalist selection totransmit said driving signals to said tone signal generating means in apredetermined pattern.

6. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said tone signal generatormeans comprises cut-off means to terminate tone signals to preventoverlapping of tone signals of different frequencies.

7. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said audio means comprisesamplifying means and sound producing means.

8. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein:

said tone signal generating means comprises a plurality of variablefrequency generators, each of said variable frequency generatorsrepresenting a note in said predetermined musical scale; and

each of said driving signals is conveyed to a corresponding one of saidvariable frequency generators which is conditioned to generate a tonesignal upon receipt of that driving signal, the frequency of thegenerated tone signal being dependent upon the selected referencevoltage.

9. A device as claimed in claim 8 wherein each of said variablefrequency generators comprises:

a unijunction transistor relaxation oscillator circuit which producesoutput pulses at a frequency determined by the selected referencevoltage; and

a flip-flop circuit actuated by each output pulse of said relaxationoscillator circuit to produce a square wave output voltage having afrequency corresponding to one-half the frequency of the output pulsesof said unijunction transistor relaxation oscillator circuit.

10. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said tone signal generatingmeans comprises:

a variable frequency generator; and

a plurality of voltage multiplex switch means connected to said variablefrequency generator, each of said multiplex switch means representing anote in said related group of notes and having corresponding ones ofsaid driving signals applied thereto, application of a driving signal toa multiplex switch means causing said variable frequency generator togenerate a tone signal, the frequency of said tone signal beingdependent upon the selected reference voltage and which of saidmultiplex switch means causes said variable frequency generator togenerate said tone signal.

11. A device as claimed in claim wherein said variable frequencygenerator comprises:

a unijunction transistor relaxation oscillator circuit which producesoutput pulses at a frequency determined by the signal applied thereto bythe activated multiplex switch; and

a flip-flop circuit actuated by each output pulse of a plurality ofunijunction transistor relaxation oscillator circuits connected to saidreference circuit which produce output pulses at a frequency determinedby the selected reference voltage received from said reference circuit,and a plurality of flip-flop circuits, each of said flipflop circuitsbeing operably connected to one of said relaxation oscillator circuitsso that said flip-flop circuits are actuated by each output pulse ofsaid relaxation oscillator circuit to produce a square wave outputvoltage having a frequency corresponding to one-half the frequency ofthe output pulses of said relaxation oscillator circuit, each of saidrelaxation oscillator circuits having a set frequency intervalrelationship to each other so that said reference voltage causes one ofsaid relaxation oscillator circuits to produce pulses corresponding tothe frequency of the selected tonic note and each of said otherrelaxation oscillator circuits to produce pulses corresponding toindividual musical notes of frequencies in accordance with the frequencyinterval relationship;

each of said tone frequency generators being consaid voltage multiplexswitch means comprises a field 20 effect transistor switching circuit.

13. A device for producing selected musical tone patterns within aselected musical scale comprising:

audio means for producing an audible musical tone corresponding to notesof the selected musical scale in response to receipt of correspondingtone signals;

selection means adapted upon instrumentalist opera tion to provide amusical scale signal correspondnected to one of said output terminals ofsaid pattern switching means so that receipt of a driving signal causessaid tone frequency generator to produce a square wave output voltagethe frequency of which is dependent upon the reference volting to theselected scale; driving means for providing triggering signals atpredetermined times according to a selected musical tone pattern; andtone signal generator means connected to said selection means, to saiddriving means and to said audio means adapted to produce and transmitrelated tone signals to said audio means in response to receipt of saidtriggering signals, the frequency of said tone signals being responsiveto said musical scale signal received from said selection means. 14. Adevice for producing musical tone patterns based on an instrumentalistselected tonic note comprising:

a voltage divider, said voltage divider comprising a reference circuit,plurality of resistors in series with said reference circuit, and aplurality of switching circuits connected in parallel between saidresistors, so that said reference circuit will provide a plurality ofreference voltages in response to actuation of one of said switchingcircuits, each of said reference voltages representing a selected tonicnote;

switching circuits connected in parallel between said resistors, so thatsaid reference circuit will provide a plurality of reference voltages inresponse to actuation of one of said switching circuits, each of saidreference voltages representing a selected tonic note;

a plurality of selection switches, each of said selection switchescorresponding to a tonic note and each of said switches connected to oneof said switching circuits so that actuation of said switches aplurality of selection switches, each of said selecactuates SaidSwitching circuits;

tion Switches Corresponding to a tonic note and pulse generating meansfor producing a plurality of each of said switches connected to one ofsaid d i i i l at d t i d ti switching circuits so that actuation ofsaid switches pattern i hi means h i a plurality f t ut aCIl-lateS SaidSwitching Circuits; terminals for receiving said driving signals andPulse generating means for Producing a plurality of transmitting saiddriving signals to said output terdriving signals at predeterminedtimes; minals in a predetermined pattern; pattern switching means havinga plurality of output a tone frequency generator comprising:

terminals for receiving said driving signals and a plurality ofmultiplex switch means, said multransmitting said driving signals tosaid output tertiplex vswitch means connected to said voltage minals ina predetermined pattern; a plurality of tone frequency generators, saidtone frequency generators comprising:

divider to receive said reference voltages and each of said multiplexswitch means being connected to one of said output terminals of saidpattern switching means so that receipt of said driving signals causeseach of said multiplex switch means to produce a keying voltageQsaidkeying voltage having a magnitude depending upon the magnitude of thereference voltage and depending upon which of said multiplex switchmeans produces said keying voltage;

a unijunction transistor relaxation oscillator circuit connected to saidmultiplex switch means which produces output pulses at a frequencydetermined by the magnitude of the keying voltage;

a flip-flop circuit operably connected to said relaxation oscillatorcircuit so that said flip-flop circuit is actuated by each output pulseof said relaxation oscillator circuit to produce a square wave outputvoltage having a frequency corresponding to one-half the frequency ofthe output pulses of said relaxation oscillator circuit;

each of said multiplex switch means being interrelated so that each ofsaid multiplex switch audio means adapted to receive the square waveoutput voltage and convert the square wave output voltage to audiblemusical notes having a frequency corresponding to the frequency of thesquare wave output voltage.

1. A device for producing musical tone patterns based on aninstrumentalist selected tonic note comprising: reference signal meansfor providing a plurality of reference signals having a distinctivevoltage magnitude, each of said distinctive voltage magnitudesrepresenting a corresponding tonic note and a related group of noteshaving a predetermined interval relationship; instrumentalist operatedselection means connected to the reference signal means adapted uponoperation to activate said reference signal means to provide a selectedreference signal; driving means for producing selectable patterns ofdriving signals, each of said driving signals representing a note in thegroup of musical notes related to the selected tonic note; tone signalgenerating means connected to the reference signal means adapted toproduce a plurality of tone signals at the times predetermined by saiddriving means in response to receipt of said driving signals and theselected reference signal, each of said tone signals having a frequencycorresponding to the frequency of one musical note of the group ofmusical notes related to the selected tonic note, the pattern ofproduction of said tone signals and hence the corresponding musicalnotes being dependent upon said driving signal; audio means adapted toreceive said tone signals and convert said tone signals into audiblemusical notes, each of said musical notes being determined by thefrequency of the corresponding tone signal.
 2. A device as claimed inclaim 1 wherein said reference signal means comprises a voltage dividerproviding a plurality of selectable output reference voltages, each ofsaid reference voltages corresponding to a group of musical notes basedon the related tonic note.
 3. A device as claimed in claim 1 whereinsaid selection means comprises a plurality of switches, each of whichrepresents a different tonic note actuable by an instrumentalist toselect a rEference voltage on said voltage divider.
 4. A device asclaimed in claim 3 wherein said plurality of switches comprises aplurality of foot operated pedal switches.
 5. A device as claimed inclaim 1 wherein said driving means comprises a pattern switchingarrangement adapted upon instrumentalist selection to transmit saiddriving signals to said tone signal generating means in a predeterminedpattern.
 6. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said tone signalgenerator means comprises cut-off means to terminate tone signals toprevent overlapping of tone signals of different frequencies.
 7. Adevice as claimed in claim 1 wherein said audio means comprisesamplifying means and sound producing means.
 8. A device as claimed inclaim 1 wherein: said tone signal generating means comprises a pluralityof variable frequency generators, each of said variable frequencygenerators representing a note in said predetermined musical scale; andeach of said driving signals is conveyed to a corresponding one of saidvariable frequency generators which is conditioned to generate a tonesignal upon receipt of that driving signal, the frequency of thegenerated tone signal being dependent upon the selected referencevoltage.
 9. A device as claimed in claim 8 wherein each of said variablefrequency generators comprises: a unijunction transistor relaxationoscillator circuit which produces output pulses at a frequencydetermined by the selected reference voltage; and a flip-flop circuitactuated by each output pulse of said relaxation oscillator circuit toproduce a square wave output voltage having a frequency corresponding toone-half the frequency of the output pulses of said unijunctiontransistor relaxation oscillator circuit.
 10. A device as claimed inclaim 1 wherein said tone signal generating means comprises: a variablefrequency generator; and a plurality of voltage multiplex switch meansconnected to said variable frequency generator, each of said multiplexswitch means representing a note in said related group of notes andhaving corresponding ones of said driving signals applied thereto,application of a driving signal to a multiplex switch means causing saidvariable frequency generator to generate a tone signal, the frequency ofsaid tone signal being dependent upon the selected reference voltage andwhich of said multiplex switch means causes said variable frequencygenerator to generate said tone signal.
 11. A device as claimed in claim10 wherein said variable frequency generator comprises: a unijunctiontransistor relaxation oscillator circuit which produces output pulses ata frequency determined by the signal applied thereto by the activatedmultiplex switch; and a flip-flop circuit actuated by each output pulseof said relaxation oscillator circuit to produce a square wave outputvoltage having a frequency corresponding to one-half the frequency ofthe output pulses of said unijunction transistor relaxation oscillatorcircuit.
 12. A device as claimed in claim 9 wherein each of said voltagemultiplex switch means comprises a field effect transistor switchingcircuit.
 13. A device for producing selected musical tone patternswithin a selected musical scale comprising: audio means for producing anaudible musical tone corresponding to notes of the selected musicalscale in response to receipt of corresponding tone signals; selectionmeans adapted upon instrumentalist operation to provide a musical scalesignal corresponding to the selected scale; driving means for providingtriggering signals at predetermined times according to a selectedmusical tone pattern; and tone signal generator means connected to saidselection means, to said driving means and to said audio means adaptedto produce and transmit related tone signals to said audio means inresponse to receipt of said triggering signals, the frequency of saidtone signals being responsive to said musical scale signal received fromsaid selection means.
 14. A device for producing musical tone patternsbased on an instrumentalist selected tonic note comprising: a voltagedivider, said voltage divider comprising a reference circuit, pluralityof resistors in series with said reference circuit, and a plurality ofswitching circuits connected in parallel between said resistors, so thatsaid reference circuit will provide a plurality of reference voltages inresponse to actuation of one of said switching circuits, each of saidreference voltages representing a selected tonic note; a plurality ofselection switches, each of said selection switches corresponding to atonic note and each of said switches connected to one of said switchingcircuits so that actuation of said switches actuates said switchingcircuits; pulse generating means for producing a plurality of drivingsignals at predetermined times; pattern switching means having aplurality of output terminals for receiving said driving signals andtransmitting said driving signals to said output terminals in apredetermined pattern; a plurality of tone frequency generators, saidtone frequency generators comprising: a plurality of unijunctiontransistor relaxation oscillator circuits connected to said referencecircuit which produce output pulses at a frequency determined by theselected reference voltage received from said reference circuit, and aplurality of flip-flop circuits, each of said flip-flop circuits beingoperably connected to one of said relaxation oscillator circuits so thatsaid flip-flop circuits are actuated by each output pulse of saidrelaxation oscillator circuit to produce a square wave output voltagehaving a frequency corresponding to one-half the frequency of the outputpulses of said relaxation oscillator circuit, each of said relaxationoscillator circuits having a set frequency interval relationship to eachother so that said reference voltage causes one of said relaxationoscillator circuits to produce pulses corresponding to the frequency ofthe selected tonic note and each of said other relaxation oscillatorcircuits to produce pulses corresponding to individual musical notes offrequencies in accordance with the frequency interval relationship; eachof said tone frequency generators being connected to one of said outputterminals of said pattern switching means so that receipt of a drivingsignal causes said tone frequency generator to produce a square waveoutput voltage the frequency of which is dependent upon the referencevoltage and which of said tone generators receives said driving signal;audio means adapted to receive the square wave output voltage andconvert the square wave output voltage to audible musical notes having afrequency corresponding to the frequency of the square wave outputvoltage.
 15. A device for producing musical tone patterns based on aninstrumentalist selected tonic note comprising: a voltage divider, saidvoltage divider comprising a reference circuit, plurality of resistorsin series with said reference circuit, and a plurality of switchingcircuits connected in parallel between said resistors, so that saidreference circuit will provide a plurality of reference voltages inresponse to actuation of one of said switching circuits, each of saidreference voltages representing a selected tonic note; a plurality ofselection switches, each of said selection switches corresponding to atonic note and each of said switches connected to one of said switchingcircuits so that actuation of said switches actuates said switchingcircuits; pulse generating means for producing a plurality of drivingsignals at predetermined times; pattern switching means having aplurality of output terminals for receiving said driving signals andtransmitting said driving signals to said output terminals in apredetermined pattern; a tone frequency generator comprising: aplurality of multiplex switch means, said multiplex switch meansconnected to said voltage divider to receive saId reference voltages andeach of said multiplex switch means being connected to one of saidoutput terminals of said pattern switching means so that receipt of saiddriving signals causes each of said multiplex switch means to produce akeying voltage, said keying voltage having a magnitude depending uponthe magnitude of the reference voltage and depending upon which of saidmultiplex switch means produces said keying voltage; a unijunctiontransistor relaxation oscillator circuit connected to said multiplexswitch means which produces output pulses at a frequency determined bythe magnitude of the keying voltage; a flip-flop circuit operablyconnected to said relaxation oscillator circuit so that said flip-flopcircuit is actuated by each output pulse of said relaxation oscillatorcircuit to produce a square wave output voltage having a frequencycorresponding to one-half the frequency of the output pulses of saidrelaxation oscillator circuit; each of said multiplex switch means beinginterrelated so that each of said multiplex switch means produces akeying voltage of a magnitude related to the keying voltage produced byeach of the other multiplex switch means so that the frequency of thecorresponding square wave outputs of said flip-flop circuit for each ofsaid keying voltages are related by a predetermined frequency intervalrelationship corresponding to a predetermined group of musical notes,said group of notes being based on said tonic note; audio means adaptedto receive the square wave output voltage and convert the square waveoutput voltage to audible musical notes having a frequency correspondingto the frequency of the square wave output voltage.